Teens embark on internship program

The introduction of 75 teen interns to the working world Monday was quite real-world – an hour and a quarter of paperwork.

They're all part of Curry County's High School Summer Internship Program. Each earned $15, at a $12-per-hour pay rate, for sitting through a session devoted to filling out forms and a little advice about showing up on time, dressed for the job and ready to devote employer time doing the employer's work.

Forms dealt with matters like permission to use identities and photos for "shout-outs" that the county plans to place on the internship program's Facebook page, fire safety, safe driving, information technology rules, acknowledgements of personnel policy, and, inevitably, tax forms.

At the first of three "employability training and onboarding orientation" sessions Monday afternoon, Darian Roybal, the county's human resources director, patiently delivered instructions on how to fill out forms and offered tidbits of advice.

"Memorize your Social Security number," she said, "so you don't have to bring the card everywhere you go."

Email on company or county systems, she said, can be revealed to the public by anyone who fills out an IPRA request, so she advised the interns use them only for company business, not airing opinions. The presence of cameras in many workplaces, she advised, means that it's a good idea to devote all time and conversation to work while at the workplace.

In addition, she reminded them, at the same time they are doing work for businesses and other employers, their paychecks come through the county, so county work rules and procedures apply, as well, including rules about turning in time cards on time on Fridays.

According to the program's web pages on the Curry County government website, the interns will work just under 20 hours per week.

County Manager Lance Pyle, who started the internship program in 2021, told the interns he started his 25-year county career as a high-school-age intern living in Melrose. He got a permanent job with the county, and kept at it while taking classes first at Clovis Community College and then at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.

He worked his way up to the county manager position, a post he has held since 2007, he said.

In her introductory remarks, Roybal said that even though program organizers have tried to match individual interests with job placements, some may find, "It's not working for you."

She said the experience is still valuable, because learning what one does not want to do "is a growth experience."

She said she started out with a degree in accounting, but found on the job that her interest in human resources was greater.

"I wished that I had gotten my degree in HR," she said.

Since the program's first year, she said, participation has grown from 32 in 2021, to 71 in 2022 to 75 this year.

"We budgeted for 100 positions this year," she said, but the more than $269,000 reserved for the program by the New Mexico Legislature did not arrive from the state Public Education Department until April, which severely limited recruitment time.

The program has not turned any applicants away this year, she said. At the first orientation session Monday, students appeared from Melrose, Grady, and as far away as House, although students from Clovis predominated.

Employers, according to the program's web pages, include various county government departments, the Curry County Events Center, real estate offices, Clovis city government offices, nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity and ENMRSH and businesses that include radio broadcasters, medical offices, real estate brokers, banks and The Eastern New Mexico News.

The program is designed to serve young people age 16 to 18. The first session of orientation included students ranging in grade level from 11th grade in the fall to 2023 high school graduates.